Researchers have discovered that a trace substance found in caramelized sugar and cola improves regeneration in mice suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Scientists from the Reyes and Ruohola Baker laboratories at the University of Washington discovered that when the sugar substance, a small molecule called 2-acetyl-4(5)-tetrahydroxybutyl imidazole (THI), was injected into mice suffering from the muscular disease, muscle regeneration was improved.